Prof. Hillary Burgess Cited in Journal Article Turned Book

Professor Hillary Burgess was cited in the Katz & O’Neill journal article entitled, Strategies and Techniques of Law School Teaching: A Primer for New (and Not So New) Professors, a journal article that has been downloaded over 1,300 times on SSRN. The article was published as abook in 2009 by Aspen publishers. Professor Burgess was cited for her idea that novice law students often learn best by learning “backward.” This concept stems from the “expert reversal effect,” a tested theory that posits that novices approach learning opposite the way experts approach learning, so the procedures and structures for incorporating new knowledge that seem obvious to experts cause novices to struggle. Professor Burgess applied this theory to the law school context by suggesting that new law students might learn more and struggle less by briefing their cases backward by starting with discreet reasoning, building to a rule of law, determining the legal issue, then identifying the key, relevant facts. Her short piece was published by the Section on Teaching Methods, entitled Beginners Brief Best By Briefing Backward.